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WEEDS
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Weed Issues in Toodyay
Weeds are defined as 'plants out of place'. Some weeds are well established in Toodyay and represent a challenge as far as control is concerned. Persistence is the key to controlling weeds on your property.
Patersons curse (Echium plantagium)
Covers the valley in a purple haze in spring and is the most familiar weed in Toodyay. It can take 5-6 years to remove it from your property. Each year your control methods will need to prevent it setting seed. Control of Patersons Curse could be a combination of chemical control, slashing or spray grazing techniques. It is a P1 declared weed which restricts it being transported in hay or the like to another area. Always check if you are buying in hay that it is weed free. Feed out hay in a small area so that if weeds germinate they can easily be controlled. Efforts by landholders to reduce Patersons curse should be done with neighbouring properties to reduce reinfestation.Strategically cutting Paterson's curse
Sharp rush (Juncus acutus )
Recently, a workshop was held in Perth by the Department of Environment and Conservation, to discuss the unpleasant weed Sharp or Spiny rush.This weed is rapidly spreading in Western Australian wetlands, river systems and creeks and seepages in agricultural areas. The workshop provided information on the identification of this weed amongst a host of native rushes. A worrying trend is that Juncus acutus is closely related to J. kraussii and there are documented cases where the two are growing together that they have hybridised. This hybrid is potentially more dangerous than the true J. acutus.
If the plant appears on your property you should get it positively identified and remove it immediately.You can then remove it by digging out small populations or using a 1% solution of glyphosate 360 with a wetting agent such as Pulse. Timing is critical and best results are achieved when the plant is actively growing in spring an early summer. After plants are dead, fire is often used to reduce the biomass. You will however get regrowth from residual seed in the soil and these will need to be sprayed once they germinate.
If you are spraying large areas you may need to plan for erosion control on some sites.
An excellent paper was provided at the workshop by Bob Dixon on the Control of Sharp rush. The Environmental Weeds Action Network has produced an excellent pamphlet on sharp rush in their series 'Managing Weeds in Bushland'.
If you are contemplating weed control on a large scale you should consider first what you will replace weeds with. It may be revegetation, a perennial or annual pasture, a hay crop, an orchard or farm forestry, etc. If you dont plant something in that space, another weed will soon fill the vacant niche. Spot control amongst areas of vegetation or in paddocks will prevent weeds from becoming established.
Areas of undisturbed native vegetation on private land and on reserves can be quite resistant to weed invasions. These areas may be susceptible when some disturbance factors allow weeds into the area.
These disturbance factors can be:
Fire that is not part of a vegetation management plan (e.g. a bushfire); this has the potential to allow weeds to invade an area. It is more likely to do so if it is adjacent to an area containing weeds and if there is no 'after fire' management of the site. Annual burning will reduce the capacity of remnant vegetation to regenerate and increase the growth of some weeds such as wild oats. Vehicles brought in to provide emergency fire breaks may bring in weeds from other sites. These sites should be monitored for weed outbreaks in the following two seasons after the fire.
Grading operations to create roads and fire breaks have the potential to increase the spread of weeds into those areas which have previously been free of weeds. This can easily be addressed by ensuring that machinery is washed down when moving from a weed infested area in to one which is of high conservation value and has few weed problems. Spiny seeds of weeds such as double gee and caltrop will easily stick to tyres.
There are weeds that are poorly established in Toodyay but have the potential to spread considerably if not controlled at an early stage. A great effort should be put into eradicating these before they get established. Also new weeds pop up from time to time. If you have an unfamiliar plant, report it to the the Department of Agriculture and Food in Northam, and get it identified.
Pest Plants
There are three pest plants declared within the Shire of Toodyay (for more information on these and other weeds see 'Avon Valley Weeds').
Bridal Creeper (Asparagus asparagoidies)
This is an climbing plant introduced from South Africa. It is also a 'Weed of National Significance'. It spreads quickly in damp areas near water courses, and can quickly smother and kill native vegetation. It is spread by birds eating the seed. We have had recent success with biological control in the form of a rust fungus that has taken hold in the West Toodyay area, and along the Avon River near the townsite. Anyone wanting some of the rust fungus, please contact the CLSO. The Avon Catchment Council ( ACC) is running a project to assist landholders and community groups in mapping and controlling this seroius weed. For more inforomation contact either Rebecca Palumbo at the ACC on 9690 2250 eamil RPalumbo@agric.wa.gov.au or the CLSO in Toodyay on 9574 2452 email clso@toodyaylandcare.org.au
Weed Management Guide- Bridal Creeper
Caltrop (Tribulus terrestris)
A prostrate summer growing annual with pinnate leaves, it has yellow flowers 1cm across and spiny fruits which are painful to all. Will cause photosensitivity in sheep if grazed.
Afghan Thistle (Solanum hoplopetalum)
An extremely prickly perennial growing annually in spring from underground stems, and is troublesome in crop and pasture. It has oblong lobed leaves and white or pale blueish flowers in spring and summer.The Shire of Toodyay is reluctant to declare any more pest plants due to the cost of control. At present the Shire is not able to control pest plants on Shire land, and therefore cannot enforce private landowners to control these weeds on private property. So most weeds are left to spread.
However if you have a problem with any pest plant coming on to your property, report it to the Shire. The Shire will respond to requests from ratepayers to control pest plants found on shire land that are spreading onto private property.
'Jumping the garden fence' (beware of cultivating invasive plants in your garden)
This is the title of a joint report from the WWF and CSIRO that looks at invasive garden plants in Australia, and their environmental and agricultural impacts.
Most weeds are introduced into Australia for ornamental horticulture. Those that are able to survive and reproduce in our harsh climate are likely to become invasive. Many of these plants continue to be available for sale in nurseries and garden centres. Gardeners need to be aware that by selecting these plants for their home garden they could be harming our native bushland and agricultural industry.
Many garden favourites come into the invasive category including agapanthus, broom, ivy, morning glory, gazanias, statice, arum lilies, Italian lavender, evening primrose, monkey flower (known as Babiana), gladiolus, athel pine (or tamarix), lantana and many more. Some of thes plants such as Lantana camara and Athel pine are banned from being sold. Those ignoring this ban could face a fine of up to $20,000.
You can recognise the signs of a potentially invasive plant. If it spreads rapidly, has berries or seeds eaten by birds or keeps coming up all over your garden after you have removed it, then it will most likely fit into this category.
Introduced invasive plants harm biodiversity by replacing and out-competing native plants; often they have no natural predators and no specialised methods of pollination. They usually are able to produce large quantities of viable seed or reproduce by means such as underground rhizomes, bulbs or corms which give them an advantage in dry climates. In agricultural production millions of dollars are spent each year in trying to keep weeds out of crops and pasture where they will devalue the crop, contaminate wool, poison animals and some cause human allergies.
Luckily there are hundreds of safe and ornamental exotic and native plants which can be grown. Please ask the CLSO for a local native species list for your garden.
Weed documents
Avon Valley Weeds (2000)Herbicide resistance(2000)
Links
Cooperative Research Centre for Weed manangememt
Weeds of National Significance
State Weed Plan Department of Agriculture and Food
